Wicked Knight Read Online Free PDF Page B

last tomato, thank God, Gawain appeared at the kitchen doorway. When he smiled at Julie, her heart dropped to her stomach. She didn't trust that smile at all. The hunk was up to no good.
    “Someone called for you, Doc.” Gawain grinned at everyone.
    “Are you going to tell him who called, son, or does he have to guess?” Arthur asked, while serving his wife potato salad.
    Julie couldn't imagine how the mild mannered man was able to produce four such rowdy boys. As much a gentleman as his legendary namesake, he treated his wife as fragilely as a porcelain doll. Julie's father, Paul, had ignored her mother and flaunted his young girlfriends around, even when Laura was still alive. He'd been on his third wife, Marla, since her mother died. The man was a total ass.
    “Who called, Gawain?” Tristan shot his brother a don't-piss-me-off-or-I'll-pound-you-to-the-ground look, then turned his attention back to the red-hot sausages. Grease-scented smoke billowed around him.
    “In a bad mood, are we? Is it because I interrupted—”
    “Darn it, Gawain!” shouted Tristan, before he cast Julie a look. His mouth set in a thin line, obviously annoyed with his brother.
    Julie's stomach knotted. She covered her mouth with a fist and pretended to clear her throat.
    “No need to shout, man. I think you need to get laid, bro. You're easily irritated, like an old—”
    “Shut your mouth, Gawain. Or should I shut it for you?”
    “Son, don't irritate your brother. Just tell him who called. Come sit down and eat with us,” Katherine patted a space beside her.
    “It was Pamela.”
    Julie choked on a Dorito she was munching, but Bors saved her when he whacked her back. The chip, thankfully, didn't fly out of her mouth. She murmured a thank you and looked at Kirsten, who wriggled her brows, smiling from ear to ear. Pamela? She called back?
    Gawain glanced at Julie. A flash of humor twinkled in his eyes and then he winked. “I told her I'd get you, but she said no. She sounded surprised to hear you're around. My ear still hurts from her screaming. She's mighty mad, bro.”
    Bors leaned in to whisper in Julie's ear. “Remember what I told you? If a woman called using the landline, that means she's not hot enough to make it on Tristan's cell phone list of fave fives. I'm not, although I'm hot.”
    Julie giggled, stealing a look at Tristan. She was nervous and at the same time, anxious to see how he would react to her latest prank. Pretending to be his wife on the phone was a riot and she enjoyed it a lot. She enjoyed irritating him, period. And she'd bet her green apples the feeling was mutual.
    “What's the message, Gawain?” asked Kirsten, obvious eagerness in her tone.
    “Pamela said...” Gawain continued, “ tell your brother he's an asshole —excuse the language, Mom. I don't owe the curse jar money because I am just relaying the message here.”
    “I know, Gawain. Is that all?”
    “No. Pamela also said Tristan deserves to be jailed—”
    “What?” Tristan and his parents echoed the question.
    “Yeah, she said you deserved to go to jail.”
    “For what?” Tristan gripped the tongs so hard Julie could see his knuckles turning white.
    “For beating your pregnant wife .” Gawain punctuated the last two words and ignored the questions erupting around the table.
    “My pregnant wife?”
    “Yeah. Your pregnant wife told her on the phone...” He smiled at Julie. “That you beat her up.”
    “And this wife of mine, did she say why I beat her up?” The tone of Tristan's voice sounded like rumbling thunder ready to explode.
    “Yes. Because she refused to have sex with you.”
    “Really.”
    Julie's uneasiness increased under the laughing eyes of the Knights. Suddenly, she felt so hungry for tomatoes.
    “I can't imagine why I would say no to sex with my wife. She's mighty attractive. A goddess on earth.”
    “Well, she told Pamela you are suffering from...”
    “From what?”
    Julie looked at Tristan and guessed his